Chương 60: 60 Loop 2, Part 14

I woke up from a nightmare involving the dragon killing Finn. Again. It was sudden, abrupt, and over before I knew it. I almost shouted, but thankfully, everything was quiet. A lamp from outside the open door threw off enough light to see everything in the room. Finn was basically a lump of clothes on the other couch. And Flag had taught Axe how to meditate, and both of them were doing just that. I checked my mana. The bar was 25% fuller than I was used to. A bad idea came to my mind.

That idea was to try the tether again. Maybe, since it was soul magic, it would pass through the ward. However, it would be expensive just to see. 615 mana with only one cast. But, yeah. I'd know for certain instead of assuming. I rejected the idea immediately. There was nothing I could do to fix the [soul tether] on my uncle. A flicker of uncertainty washed over me. What would happen if I didn't fix it? I was broken out of my thoughts by Flag talking through the link. Oh. Good evening. Hi. Hello, Flag.

Is it normal for humans to snore in patterns? he said. I counted all night. You snore with four short little snorts, and then one long snore that goes on forever. But Finn, he only snorts twice. And then he never has the long snore at all. I like yours better. Thanks, buddy. I practice.

"I knew it." Unfortunately, he said this out loud, which caused a chain of events. Finn, who had been in one of his snoring fits, snorted twice and then woke up with a startled yelp. I could tell that he hadn't had a restful sleep at all. His eyes were still dark, and his robe was way too disheveled for just a single night's sleep. It was like he had spent the night pinching and pulling at it out of stress. He had, at some point, removed his boots and put them on the exact edge of the carpet.

Finn tidied things up when he couldn't sleep. Not that there was much to tidy up. Finn sat up, scrubbed at his face, and looked at me.

"I can't stop thinking," he said.

"If everything you said is true, then don't we have to worry about a dragon?" There was no cheap way out of this one. But I still wasn't sure it would be an issue.

"I'm not worried about the dragon anymore," I said.

"Kalin's been arrested. You said so yourself. Hopefully that keeps it from being released."

"So did you lose the fight this last time? You said your uncle managed to kill it once?"

"Yeah. The first time, after it killed you, my uncle cut it in half with some giant sword spell. It was actually pretty cool. Though I think I would have enjoyed it more if, you know, you hadn't just died." I paused, took a breath, and then continued.

"But the second time, it killed me before we could really stop it. I mean, we had thrown everything we had at it." I said.

"I saw professors and fourth years tossing massive spells I had never even heard of. They delayed the beast. But no one was powerful enough. No spell was able to damage it the way my uncle could. I even had Flag drop a bomb on it. But in the end, you were going to die, and I stopped it. And as a result, I ended up in the infirmary."

"Yeah, but…" Finn stopped, then looked at me fretfully.

"I'm sure it was a lot to handle. I know you've seen people die this past week. Are you sure you're okay?" My stomach whined. My heart ached. The dragon in my head killed Finn again. I was not okay. But I didn't really have time to focus on my fear. Or on the memories of the deaths. Or on my ever-growing list of problems that just kept repeating.

"Did it hurt?" he asked me suddenly.

"Did what hurt?"

"When it killed you. Did it hurt? Do you know if it hurt me? Well, the other me." I paused, considering. Had it hurt? The soul sickness felt beyond weird, but didn't hurt exactly.

"I don't know how to explain it," I finally responded.

"I really did just wake up in the infirmary, and it was like nothing had happened at all. But, well, there's no [Soul Sickness] passive on you, is there?" Finn shook his head. I guess the version of his soul that had been in that timeline had been erased? Maybe? I shuddered at the thought. But that wasn't a philosophical argument I wanted to spend any effort or care on. I couldn't change things, so what did it matter if I was killing my old soul over and over again?

"I died once," Flag offered.

"Oh, it was very fast. So there wasn't time to mind. One moment, I was a flagstone, because the dragon destroyed my body. And then the next, I was a flagstone again. The grass was nice. I kind of miss it." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Finn made a sound that was almost a laugh.

"Thanks, Flag."

"You're welcome."

"So," Finn said.

"Any idea what the book lady was talking about?" As if in answer, a wall opened up into a corridor. As soon as it was done, I stood up from the couch. Without hesitation, Finn woke Axe from his meditation. The four of us piled in after Flag, who had already made it halfway down the hall. When we entered, the Keeper started talking immediately.

"Good. You are awake. We have a great deal to discuss, and I would rather discuss it before you need to sleep again." Well, we had just slept, so I didn't think that would be a problem for anyone but me soon. It was clear she had spent the night reorganizing her study into the perfectly organized machine she had always wanted. My uncle lay on top of the desk, which had been cleared of all papers. All the books on the shelves were now organized by color and cleaned, too.

"So." I shifted to a new position in my chair.

"You said you might know where to find a solution to my uncle's problem. What is it?"

"I did, indeed." The Keeper crossed to the desk and put one stone hand on my uncle's dome, like she was checking on a sleeping child.

"Nothing is getting through this ward. Which is both a good thing and, I suspect, a very bad thing. I can tell that your [Soul Tether] is gone." I didn't confirm it. She didn't need me to.

"As it is, he cannot be treated where he lies, and he cannot be moved out of this orb. And as far as I know, there is no one alive who can outdo the work of your uncle on wards. Do I have everything correct?"

"That is a wonderful summary. But I'm still hoping for the part where you can help me."

"The dungeon. The Lost Library, that is. It rewards those able to clear its halls." She continued.

"But the reward is not gold or an ephemeral reward. No, the reward is based on the deepest desire and need of one's heart. And the first floor gives you a spell to meet that desire."

"Deepest desire?" Finn questioned.

"That's vague enough."

"Vague, schmague," I said.

"I want to know what my deepest desire is. Is it a bed? Is it unlimited money? Is it saving the world?" I tried hard not to look at my uncle.

"The thing about dungeon rewards is that they aren't just random options from a list," the Keeper said.

"That is the part people often fail to listen to. They hear 'deepest desire,' and assume it will be exactly what they've wanted all along." Her hands found a shelf and straightened a set of books that had already been straightened earlier. It was like idle hands were new to her. Clearly, she hadn't worked out what to do with them yet.

"The reward changes floor by floor. Clear a floor, receive its reward. Descend, and the next offers a different kind of prize. Each one is richer than the last." There was a pause.

"The dungeon has six floors. Even Queen Therumia never finished the final one." Finn's eyes widened as if he'd finally realized what I had my first time down here.

"Queen of the Golden Age, Therumia? Even she couldn't clear this dungeon?" The Keeper gave Finn a look that clearly implied he was being an idiot.

"She built most of what surrounds us with the power the floors gave her. But yes. She stopped at floor four. I ran through the floors myself. But I didn't even make it past the third one. This dungeon is not for the faint of heart."

"The third floor? Why didn't you continue on to the fourth?" The Keeper idly turned a book over in her hands. It was one of the ones she had been "straightening."

"That is because I was clearing it by myself," she said. Solo delvers were a rare breed, and always a waste of talent. No dungeon rewarded you because you hated large groups. She didn't add anything else. Thankfully, Finn had the sense not to question it.

"So, if you ran through the dungeon, can you give us an idea of what to expect?"

"The dungeon has a history of revising itself. So what little aid I give will not be of much use. However, every time I ran through the first floor, it was consistent in pattern. Two boss monsters. Two stages of different elements. And four keys that have to be assembled in order to face the boss monsters." I sighed.

"That sounds like a tremendous amount of work. Finn. Why don't we just go back upstairs instead?" He punched me in the arm.

"It is," the Keeper said.

"But it is also less work than figuring out how to become better at wards than your uncle. You have the solution available to you. Study his ward, exceed his craftsmanship, and unbind it yourself. I would estimate a decade, and I am being rather generous at that."

"So my options are ten years of homework or a dungeon."

"Yes." Finn was watching me. But it wasn't worry etching his face. No, he had come to a realization at about the same time I had. Fuck. Finn had just watched someone move the only lever that ever worked on me. Without even trying. And now he was going to do the exact same thing. Was it too late to reset the loop? That lever, for the record, was simple math. Honestly, the fact that he hadn't figured it out by now was on him. It wasn't that I wouldn't put in an effort.

I just always wanted to do things the easiest way possible, with the minimal amount of work necessary for success. Axe lifted his arms in a little salute, interrupting my thoughts.

"A dungeon. This is the grandest day of my life."

"Does the dungeon have stone?" Flag asked.

"It's underground. It's all stone." Then I'm also in favor. I didn't even really have to think about it. Column one, outclass my uncle at his preferred school of magic. Over a decade. Or column two. The dungeon. Neither appealed to me. But one I could potentially get done by Thursday, and the other I'd get done by Thursday ten years from now. Plus, I had an army. That would probably make the dungeon faster. And underneath both columns, the part I wasn't saying in front of a book that noticed everything.

I'd told Finn the arrest had already fixed Thursday, and I'd said it in my most confident voice. If I turned out to be wrong, I didn't want to be standing on the Green with nothing in my hands but an apology.

"Fine." I exhaled.

"I'm not saying you're right. But I don't see another way to crack the ward in a timely fashion."

"I accept your surrender."

"It's not a surrender."

"As you say." I sighed before asking something I knew I'd regret.

"You never mentioned your price?"

"I thought it was rather obvious. I want you to break the ward to my room. I want to break free."